Virgin Voyages First Mate Familiarization Trip

Day 1

Virgin Voyages is a new player in the cruise industry, and their Riviera Maya Cruise is one of the most popular itineraries. I was lucky enough to be offered a chance to experience the ship with a familiarization trip in order to better assist my clients interested in cruising with Virgin Voyages. My friend Angela from Gemini Photography joined me on this amazing trip that was sure to be a blast. Wait until you see the pics she took while in Cozumel and Bimini... Seriously, she is coming with me everywhere I go for now on!

First off, Virgin Voyages is an adult only cruise line with amazing food, entertainment staff and accommodations that ensure you have the most wonderful vacation. There is so much to do on board, whether you want to relax or party and whether or not you travel with others or solo. While I was on board, it was actually announced that Virgin Voyages won all 5 awards in the Large Ship category of the Cruise Critic Cruises' Choice Awards. The 5 awards were: Best Overall, Best Dining, Best Cabins, Best Service & Best Value for Money. If that doesn't tell you something, I don't know what does. Virgin Voyages' ships are designed to provide passengers with a unique and luxurious experience. The ships feature so many restaurants, bars, and lounges, as well as a spa and fitness centre. There are many fitness classes, shows and other entertainment that passengers can enjoy while on board. The cabins on Virgin Voyages' ships are designed to be comfortable and stylish. They feature a modern, minimalist design, and they come with all the amenities you need for a comfortable stay. I was actually shocked with all the storage areas within our cabin. We were in a Sea View Terrace Cabin and did not have any issues with space. The bed can be configured in two different ways. It can remain as a king sized bed or be separated into an L-shape to create two single beds.

Over the next 5 days, I am going to tell you all about my trip and the amazing reasons why I literally LOVED sailing with Virgin Voyages and highly suggest everyone checks it out!

The Riviera Maya Cruise five-night voyage takes passengers to two beautiful destinations in the Caribbean. The ship departs from Miami, Florida, and then sails to Cozumel and the Virgin Voyages' private beach club in the Bahamas, The Beach Club at Bimini. Angela and I flew out from Buffalo the morning of our cruise. This is something I wouldn't regularly recommend, but with a wedding the evening before - I didn't have any other choice. It was quick and smooth checking in and going through security at the Buffalo Airport. We arrived to the Fort Lauderdale airport with no issues at all. Of course, the weekend we were setting sail, is also when the Ultra Music Festival was taking place right beside the Port of Miami. This made our usually half hour drive to Virgin Voyages Terminal V turn into two and a half hours as we were stuck in traffic that was completely stopped due to road closures. When we finally made it, we dropped off our bags and decided to start walking over the bridge to Bayside where we were going to grab two bottles of Prosecco to bring on board the ship as each cabin is allowed to bring on two bottles. Of course the liquor store was on the opposite side of the park where the music festival was taking place. So we had to walk all the way around. It was a long walk in the Miami heat, but it was well worth it when we arrived back to the ship with our bubbly! We were back about 15 minutes later than our scheduled boarding time and were able to walk straight in. We got our bands and within minutes we were on board the ship and heading towards our cabin to rest our feet and book all of the shows we were interested in seeing. After booking all of the shows, we headed down to the 7th floor, grabbed a beer and sat on the deck, enjoying the sunshine. At 5:00 we went to a Welcome Reception where we met with some of the other Travel Agents on board and were introduced to some of the staff. We were greeted with champagne which was continuously poured throughout the Sail Away Party until 6:00 when we began setting sail. That evening was the PJ party, so Angela and myself got changed into our PJs. We then enjoyed enjoyed a drink and some live music at On the Rocks prior to our dinner at Extra Virgin, the Italian Restaurant. After dinner we made our way to the PJ Party at the back of the ship. I must say, it was nice to be relaxed and comfy in our PJs after a long day of travelling.

Enjoy the photos from Day 1 of our cruise. Tomorrow, I will tell you about our first sea day on day 2!

Interested in experiencing a Virgin Voyages cruise yourself? Click here to check out the current promotions and sailings!